Join Our team
Advertised Open Positions
We are currently recruiting postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and MSc students to start in Fall 2027. All positions are fully funded. Projects listed below.
NOTE: The projects below are starting points, not fixed job descriptions. We expect each successful applicant to shape their project around their own interests, skills and ideas. If your interests fit the overall program, we still encourage you to get in touch.
How to apply: Email Dr. Elena Bennett with:
Your CV
Transcripts (unofficial copies are fine)
A short statement of interest (a few paragraphs, max) explaining which position(s) interest you and how your background fits
Please name the position in the email subject line
Review of positions will begin on October 15 and continue until positions are filled. Prospetive students are encouraged to apply early, so we can work together on applications for external scholarships.
Postdoctoral Fellow: Modelling how nature and people co-produce ecosystem services
Start: Fall 2027 · Salary: about $60,000/yr, depending on experience
This postdoc will lead development of the program's core theoretical, intended to be a flexible virtual landscape for running experiments on how natural capital and human inputs interact to produce ecosystem services and shape ecosystem function. The model could then be used to run experiments on the limits of replacing natural capital with human inputs, and on what makes working landscapes resilient.
Possible directions include:
• Extending an existing simple landscape simulation model (Rieb et al. 2023) into a grid-based, spatially explicit framework.
• Deriving non-linear production functions for interacting provisioning, regulating and cultural services.
• Modelling feedbacks in which some human inputs degrade natural capital while others enhance it, including spatial processes such as spillover and connectivity.
• Simulating a range of management strategies to find thresholds and possible tipping points in ecosystem service response
• Tracing the ecological flows that underpin resilience, such as pest control spilling over from natural habitat into farmland, or water regulation shaped by wetland connectivity.
• Explaining why multifunctionality differs among landscape configurations, including land sparing and land sharing designs.
The postdoc will work closely with a PhD student on this theme and help mentor undergraduate researchers. The exact model design, services and questions are open, and we welcome candidates who bring their own ideas.
We are looking for someone with a PhD in ecology, environmental science, ecological economics, applied mathematics, or a related field. The ideal candidate has strong skills in quantitative modelling (e.g., dynamical systems, simulation or agent-based models, in R, Python, or similar) and an interest in social-ecological systems.
PhD Student 1: The mathematics of nature–people substitution
Start: Fall 2027 ·
Funding: about $40,000/yr, more with external scholarships ·
Program: PhD in Renewable Resources
How much can fertilizer stand in for healthy soil, or technology for pollinators? When do human inputs erode the natural capital they depend on, and when can they build it up? This PhD will help answer these questions. The student will derive the mathematical relationships that link natural capital, human inputs and ecosystem services, which form the foundation of our landscape simulation model.
Possible directions include:
• Synthesizing ecological, agronomic and economic literature, as well as existing models such as InVEST and ARIES, to define production functions for several ecosystem services.
• Estimating how substitutable or complementary natural and human inputs are for different services, using published datasets and meta-analyses.
• Developing functions for how different human inputs degrade or enhance natural capital over time.
• Exploratory modelling that feeds directly into the program's simulation model, in collaboration with a postdoctoral fellow.
The student will choose which services to focus on and can steer the project toward theory, data synthesis or modelling. Depending on interests, this project could also be split into two MSc projects.
We are looking for a student with an MSc in ecology, environmental science, ecological or agricultural economics, mathematics, physics, engineering or a related field. A strong quantitative background is strongly preferred.
PhD Student 2: Land sparing, land sharing and the future of working landscapes
Start: Fall 2027 ·
Funding: about $40,000/yr, more with external scholarships ·
Program: PhD in Renewable Resources
Should we protect 30% of the landscape and farm the rest intensively, or weave nature-friendly practices through the whole landscape? This PhD will use a spatially explicit simulation model to compare how different amounts and arrangements of conservation shape ecosystem services, multifunctionality and resilience.
Possible directions include:
• Designing "land sparing" scenarios inspired by the global 30x30 target, with protected areas in different spatial configurations and intensive agriculture elsewhere.
• Designing "land sharing" scenarios in which lower-intensity, nature-enhancing practices cover the whole landscape.
• Comparing the ecosystem service bundle outcomes each scenario produces, and how each responds to shocks such as pest outbreaks.
• Exploring other conservation paradigms, such as Half-Earth.
The student will work with a postdoctoral fellow studying tipping points and spatial resilience. They will have wide latitude to choose the scenarios, services and stressors that interest them most. Depending on interests, this project could also be split into two MSc projects.
We are looking for a student with an MSc in ecology, conservation, geography, environmental science or a related field. Useful skills include modelling, spatial analysis (GIS) or programming (e.g., R or Python), and an interest in conservation policy debates.
MSc Student 1: Fifty years of change in an agricultural landscape
Start: Fall 2027 ·
Funding: about $27,000/yr, more with external scholarships ·
Program: MSc in Renewable Resources
The Montérégie is an 11,000 km² agricultural region southeast of Montreal. Our lab has studied it for more than a dozen years. Like much of Canada, it has intensified over recent decades. This MSc will use that history to test whether our new theoretical model can predict how the mix of natural and human inputs has shaped the landscape's ability to provide multiple ecosystem services.
Possible directions include:
• Compiling Census of Agriculture data on fertilizer and pesticide use, soil quality and farm infrastructure over roughly the past 50 years.
• Pairing these with existing data on six ecosystem services (crop production, carbon storage, deer hunting, maple syrup, outdoor recreation and water quality) at county and 30-m resolution.
• Testing how well the model’s (developed by postdocs and PhD students above)predictions match observed changes in multifunctionality over time.
• If time allows, extending the comparison to other landscapes.
We are looking for a student with a BSc in ecology, environmental science, geography, agricultural science or a related field. Interest or experience in data analysis, GIS or R/Python is an asset.
MSc Student 2: Bright spots of multifunctional agriculture across North America
Start: Fall 2027 ·
Funding: about $27,000/yr, more with external scholarships ·
Program: MSc in Renewable Resources
Some agricultural regions provide far more ecosystem services than their soils and climate alone would predict. What are they doing differently? This MSc will look for "bright spots" (and "dark spots") of agricultural multifunctionality across Canada and the United States. It will then test whether our theoretical model can predict where they occur.
Possible directions include:
• Mapping multiple ecosystem services, such as food production, carbon storage, pollination and recreation, in agricultural counties and census divisions, using existing datasets and methods developed in our lab.
• Scoring multifunctionality with established indices and identifying places that perform well above or below expectations.
• Quantifying the natural capital (e.g., soil productivity indices) and human inputs (e.g., spending on fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and labour) used in each region.
• Relating the mix of capitals to multifunctionality, and comparing the results with model predictions.
The student is welcome to adapt the scale, indicators or focal questions. We are also open to other ideas that test the model with large-scale data.
We are looking for a student with a BSc in ecology, environmental science, geography, agricultural economics or a related field. Interest or experience in GIS, spatial data or statistics (e.g., R or Python) is an asset.
If you are interested in S.E.W., please email Elena using the button below. Please include in your email:
A description of your research interests
An explanation of why you are a fit for our team
Your C.V.
An informal copy of your transcripts.
Diversity is an important driver of creativity and new ideas. We’re keen to add diversity to the group; let us know if this describes you.
We are picky about who we choose to join our team in S.E.W. I purposely keep the team small to ensure that I have plenty of time, attention, and funding for each student. That means I am careful to only take on new students and postdocs who are a good fit with both the research themes and projects of the workshop and with the tone and spirit of group. A good explanation of why you are a good fit, what you hope to learn, and what you can contribute will help catch my attention. Jacquelyn Gill provides thoughtful advice on how to do a great job of this here.
Please be aware that we get many applications to join the team and cannot respond to all inquiries.